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Self-described “citizen reporter” pastor Rick Wiles endorsed a conspiracy theory in a recent episode of his podcast: Covid-19 vaccines were “the product of a global coup by the worst human gang in human history.”

“It’s an egg that turns from an egg into a synthetic parasite and grows inside your body,” Mr. Wiles said on the October 13 episode. “It’s like a science fiction nightmare and it’s happening right in front of us.”

Mr. Wiles belongs to a group of hosts who have made false or misleading statements about Covid-19 and effective treatments for it. Like many, he has access to most of his audience because his show is broadcast on a platform provided by a major media company.

Mr. Wiles’ podcast is available at: iHeart MediaSays it reaches nine out of 10 Americans each month, an audio company based in San Antonio. Spotify and Apple are other major companies that provide important audio platforms for hosts who share with their listeners similar views on Covid-19 and the vaccine work, or have guests who support such ideas on their programmes.

Scientific studies have shown that vaccines protect people against coronavirus for extended periods and significantly reduced the spread of Covid-19. As the global death rate related to Covid-19 over five million – and more than 40 percent of Americans not fully vaccinated — iHeart, Spotify, Apple, and many smaller audio companies have done little to rein in what radio presenters and podcasters are saying about the virus and vaccination efforts.

“There really are no barriers,” said Jason Loviglio, associate professor of media and communications studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “There is no real mechanism to back down, other than advertisers boycotting it and company executives saying we need a culture change.”

Audio industry executives seem less likely to try to control dangerous conversations than their social media counterparts. TruNews, a conservative Christian media outlet founded by Mr. Wiles, who used the phrase “Jewish coup” to describe his efforts to impeach former President Donald J. Trump, was banned by YouTube. His podcast continues to be available on iHeart.

When asked about his misrepresentations about Covid-19 vaccines, Mr. Wiles described efforts to mitigate the pandemic as “global communism.” “If the needle Nazis win, freedom ends for generations, maybe forever,” he said in an email.

The reach of radio shows and podcasts is particularly great among young people: A recent survey by the consulting firm National Research Group found that 60 percent of listeners under the age of 40 get their news primarily through audio, some form of media. Rely on more than print or video.

“People develop really close relationships with podcasts,” said Evelyn Douek, senior research fellow at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute. “This is a parasocial environment. There’s something about sound that people are really into. ”

Marc Bernier, a talk radio host in Daytona Beach, Fla., whose program is available to download or stream on iHeart and Apple’s digital platforms, was among the talk radio presenters who died of Covid-19 complications after expressing his anti-vaccine views on iHeart and Apple’s digital platforms. programs. The deaths made national news and sparked a series of comments on social media. Less noticeable was the industry that helped give them an audience.

In a June episode, Mr. Bernier, after referring to unvaccinated people, said: “I am one of them. Judge me if you want.” The following month, he quoted a false claim he “45,000 people they died from vaccination.” In his latest Twitter post on 30 July, Mr. Bernier accused the government of “acting like Nazis” for promoting Covid-19 vaccines.

Jimmy DeYoung Sr., whose program is on iHeart, Apple, and Spotify, has died of Covid-19 complications after making his show a venue for false or misleading statements about vaccines. One of his frequent guests was Sam Rohrer, a former Pennsylvania state representative who made a sweeping false statement that likened the promotion of Covid-19 vaccines to Nazi tactics. “This is not a vaccine by definition,” Mr Rohrer said in an episode aired in April. “This is a permanent change in my immune system that God has created to deal with things that come this way.” Mr. DeYoung thanked his guest for his “insight”. Mr. DeYoung died four months later.

Buck Sexton, host of a show co-hosted by Premiere Networks, an iHeart subsidiary, recently theorized that bulk Covid-19 vaccines could accelerate the mutation of the virus into more dangerous strains. He made this suggestion while appearing on another Premiere Networks show, “The Jesse Kelly Show.”

The theory seems to have its roots in a 2015 article on vaccines for a chicken disease called Marek’s disease. Its author is Andrew Read, professor of biology and entomology at Penn State University. told research has been “misinterpreted” by anti-vaccine activists. He added that it was determined that Kovid-19 vaccines significantly reduced the transmission, while chickens vaccinated with the Marek disease vaccine could transmit the disease. Mr Sexton did not respond to a request for comment.

“We’re seeing so many public radio stations doing great local work to spread good health information,” said media professor Mr. Loviglio. “On the other hand, you mostly see the AM radio dial and their podcast counterparts are the Wild West of the airwaves.”

iHeart with over 860 radio stations 600+ podcasts and operates a large online archive of audio programs – Charter prohibiting podcasters on its platform from making statements that incite hatred, promote Nazi propaganda, or make defamatory statements. It does not say whether it has a policy regarding false statements regarding Covid-19 or vaccination efforts.

Apples content guidelines for podcasts Ban “content that may have harmful or dangerous consequences or that is obscene or unnecessary”. Apple did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Spotify, which says podcast platform It has 299 million monthly listeners, prohibits hate speech in their guidelines. In response to the investigations, the company said in a written statement that it also bans content that “promotes dangerously false or dangerously deceptive content about Covid-19 that could cause offline harm and/or pose a direct threat to public health.” The company added that it has removed content that violates its policies. But the part where Mr. DeYoung had a conversation with Mr. Rohrer, still available via Spotify.

Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s head of content and advertising business, said at a meeting: conference reported last month that the company is making “very aggressive moves” to invest more in content moderation. “There is a difference between the content we make and the content we license and the content available on the platform,” he said, “but our policies are the same no matter what type of content is on our platform. We will not allow any content that is infringing or false in any way.”

The audio industry hasn’t done the same scrutiny as major social media companies whose managers are questioned. congress sessions about the role of platforms in spreading false or misleading information.

Social media giants have made an effort to stop the flow of misinformation about the pandemic last year. In September, YouTube He said he had banned the accounts of several prominent anti-vaccine activists. It also removes or de-emphasizes misinformation or content it thinks is close to it. late last year, excitement announced that it will remove posts and advertisements that contain unfounded claims about coronavirus vaccines. Facebook It followed suit in February, saying it would generally eliminate false claims about vaccines.

Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, a media professor at the University of Florida, said podcasts can be more effective at spreading misinformation than social media. “People who go to podcasts show much more active engagement,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, I went to Facebook and scrolled down and saw this misinformation.’

Audio media has become more popular during the pandemic, according to iHeart CEO Robert W. Pittman, former head of MTV and AOL. At a recent media industry conference, she noted a shift in listening habits over the past 20 months: “Before the pandemic, the consumer felt disconnected from social and many other things, and they valued media that felt like a friend. . There are two of them: radio and there is podcasting now”

The Federal Communications Commission, which licenses companies that use public broadcasting, moderates radio operators, but not podcasts or online audio that does not use public broadcasting.

The FCC is prohibited from violating American citizens’ right to free speech. When suing a media company for programming, this is typically in response to complaints about content deemed obscene or indecent, such as when it fined a Virginia television station in 2015 for a news broadcast featuring an episode of a pornographic movie star.

An FCC spokesperson said in a statement that the agency “reviewed all complaints and determined what could be prosecuted under the Constitution and law.” He added that the main responsibility for what is on the air rests with the owners of the radio stations and that “broadcast license holders have a duty to act in the public interest.”

The talk radio and podcast world is huge, and anti-vaccine sentiment is a small part of it. iHeart offers an educational podcast series About Covid-19 vaccines and Spotify created A hub for podcasts about Covid-19 From news sources like ABC and Bloomberg.

There has been at least one comeback among homeowners who were once skeptical about the pandemic and efforts to counter it. Bill Cunningham, an Apple-based radio show co-hosted by iHeart’s Premiere Networks in Cincinnati, spent the first part of the pandemic claiming that Covid-19 had been overstated. revised his opinion on the air explains his decision to get vaccinated this year and encourages his listeners to do the same.

Recently, he has expressed his enthusiasm for a booster shot and noted that he has acquired a new nickname: “Vaxxinator”.